SUDAN Joy in the South, silence in the North 21st January 2005 The peace deal shores up the regime but raises doubts about the eventual plan for Southern independence At long last, Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) has been signed, in Kenya's National Stadium on 9 January. Yet the participants have very different aims: the regime wants to hold on to power and keep Sudan united; Southerners want independence. For the South, the signatory was Colonel John Garang de Mabior, head of the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement. For Khartoum, President Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir was present but, demonstrating that the National Islamic Front civilians still rule, the signatory was the more powerful Vice-President, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha.
EQUATORIAL GUINEASOUTH AFRICA Crabs in a barrel 21st January 2005 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Exclusive update on the Equatorian coup plot deals - only available online South African prosecutors are pressing ahead with investigations into the Equatorial Guinea coup saga following their plea bargain deal with Mark Thatcher, which was ratified in Cape Town's...
SUDAN West of the border 21st January 2005 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site While accelerating its military build up in Darfur, the National Islamic Front government signed a peace deal on 7 January with the mysterious new rebel group, the National...
SUDAN Capital concerns 21st January 2005 The temporary capital of Southern Sudan will be Rumbek, home to the South's first secondary school and, since its recapture by the Sudan People's Liberation Army in 1997,...
GABON New at the convivial party 21st January 2005 Of Gabon's 35 registered political parties, 29 belong to the presidential majority in what President Omar Bongo calls his 'convivial democracy'.
NIGERIA Ogbeh walks out 21st January 2005 The ruling party Chairman's resignation is upsetting plans for the election in 2007 President Olusegun Obasanjo is due to step down when his term ends in 2007. The succession that he is planning has been upset by a public falling out...
ECONOMYAFRICA Aid, trade and reform 21st January 2005 Hopes are high for faster growth this year as G8 countries promise more backing for Africa Off to a strong start, 2005 is set to be both eventful and decisive for Africa's economies. Firstly, the International Monetary Fund is forecasting gross domestic product (GDP)...
GABON Bongo for ever 21st January 2005 The oil is dwindling but the President shows no such weakness It is election year again in Gabon and there is no doubt who will win: President Omar Bongo Ondimba, who has presided over the now declining oil power...
ECONOMYAFRICA Heading higher 21st January 2005 The International Monetary Fund's forecast of average growth of 5.8 per cent for sub-Saharan Africa this year is the region's best out-turn for 30 years. The bigger question...
ZIMBABWE Southern spookery 21st January 2005 Centre-stage in the latest spy saga is Philip Chiyangwa, the zealous MP for Chinhoyi, Chairman of Mashonaland West's branch of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, and...
CONGO-KINSHASA Impossible vote 21st January 2005 The announcement that the elections are to be postponed by at least six months has sparked a new wave of political unrest from all sides. Few would argue...
CHAD Chinese walls 21st January 2005 President Idriss Déby is on the campaign trail for a referendum on changing the constitution to give him a third term in office. Many of the gifts he...
MALAWI His own man 21st January 2005 The long-awaited showdown between President Bingu Wa Mutharika and his predecessor Bakili Muluzi is under way (AC Vol 45 No 24). Mutharika has told his predecessor to 'shut...